Lu Yin

Lu Yin ( third century), courtesy name Jingzong, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the younger brother of Lu Kai and a relative of Lu Xun, who respectively served as the eighth and third Imperial Chancellors of Eastern Wu. Family background Lu Yin was from Wu County, Wu Commandery, which is present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. The Lu clan, which he was from, was one of the four most influential clans in Wu Commandery and also in the Jiangdong (or Wu) region at the time. He was the younger brother of Lu Kai and a relative of Lu Xun, who served as the eighth and third Imperial Chancellors of Eastern Wu respectively. Role in the Sun He–Sun Ba succession struggle Lu Yin started his career as an Imperial Clerk and Gentleman in the Selection Bureau of the Imperial Secretariat during the reign of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Eastern Wu. Sun He, Sun Quan's third son and heir apparent, heard of Lu Yin's talent and treated him exceptionally well. Around the 240s, there was a power struggle between Sun He, the Crown Prince, and his fourth brother Sun Ba, the Prince of Lu, over the succession to their father's throne. While Sun He became worried that his father would depose and replace him, Sun Ba became increasingly set on seizing the position of Crown Prince from Sun He. Each of the two princes had a faction supporting him. During this time, Sun Quan considered replacing Sun He with Sun Ba so he privately asked Yang Zhu, one of Sun Ba's supporters, about his thoughts on Sun Ba. Yang Zhu sang praises of Sun Ba and nearly convinced Sun Quan to replace Sun He with Sun Ba. A servant who eavesdropped on the private conversation between Sun Quan and Yang Zhu secretly reported what he heard to Sun He.